Reported by HarderFaster
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Submitted 20-04-11 23:14
Since his first studio sessions upstairs in a pub in Deptford with the infamous Liberator DJs, the once professional drummer, D.A.V.E. has had a massive impact on the worldwide techno movement. Commanding an army of extremely loyal fans from Brazil to Tokyo, who are always hungry for his explosive DJ sets and super influential productions, the man also known as Henry Cullen provides evidence that the underground scene can produce a true superstar, who on merit alone has helped to define underground techno to become what it is today.
In the studio D.A.V.E. has produced some of the most classic techno anthems, such as the mighty ‘Hydro 9’ on his own seminal Hydraulix label, as well as the biggest selling Acid Techno record of all time ‘One Night In Hackney’ alongside regular DJ partner and Stay Up Forever legend Chris Liberator.
D.A.V.E. will be playing at the Acid Techno Wedding Crashers Ball on Friday 29th April @ Jamm in Brixton alongside the kingpins of London Techno & Acid Techno, as an alternative to all that flag waving nonsense. He has kindly given up some of his valuable time between getting on and off of airplanes to answer some questions for Harderfaster.
You started producing Techno and Acid Techno for labels such as Stay Up Forever & Boscaland and toured your live show with your own material in the early years, what gave you the urge to become a DJ?
If I'm honest, it was really just that I became fascinated with beat matching and mixing records because of being a drummer, although I probably wouldn't have started DJing though if it wasn't for watching the Liberators or Lawrie Immersion doing their thing. I was practicing away on my own like mad, I'm a bit like that underneath, I'm a musician at heart and I really like to get good at something, so I become obsessed with playing records, and I still am in a lot of ways.
It would seem that DJs worldwide have gone digital in recent years, swapping vinyl for digital formats. What’s your preferred method of playing music at parties and why?
I'm now playing using Traktor Pro with Vinyl control records. I got into CDs for a bit but got fed up with them pretty quickly. I like the fact that I can download and play my tracks straight away on the decks with no fuss and that the Traktor system is reliable and always the same for me.
You’re known for your flexibility as a DJ, how do you balance playing upfront material alongside dropping in classics to keep the crowd happy?
It's tricky, I don't want to piss people off with loads of stuff they don't know or don't like, but techno has changed recently and I do get upset that people are so reluctant to embrace new music sometimes. I think there is space for all of it personally and I'm not hung up on any particular sound, but I don't always find my audiences look at it like that.
So, it's important to feel how the people on the night are feeling and understand what they are after, I'm not a jukebox, but I will understand if I'm not getting it right for them. That said, I've had some great sets recently where I've played a lot of new and not so much old, and they've been accepted very well.
With your incredibly hectic DJ schedule which sees you playing internationally almost every weekend, most budding DJs would kill for your gig list but don’t realise how tiring it is. How do you find the energy to cope with the workload and still keep motivated in the studio during the week?
It is tiring that’s true, I recently had 3 months off the booze and to be honest it was much easier to get everything done, I had a few drinks recently and I really felt the difference! Monday is normally treated as Sunday in my house though, I don't do much on Monday, but the weekdays are full of studio, organising DJ gigs, web design jobs, going through promos and running the label. It's busy but I do love it.
Your label Hydraulix has been one of the biggest underground Techno labels around and has always supported the vinyl scene. Do you see the future of Hydraulix as a digital label?
It's going darker and more underground. I'm just about to release a bunch of great remixes of the last Hydraulix number 42, remixes by Glenn Wilson, Spiros Kaloumenos, Vegim, Nick Grater and loads more, It'll be a great start to the new sound. I want the label to fall into step with I'm playing so expect it to be a little slower and groovier in future.
The availability of technology has now afforded new producers the opportunity to have complete studios inside their laptops. Considering the A&R process when creating vinyl is so stringent, as large amounts of money are being staked, do you feel the influx of productions into the marketplace through democratized digital distribution has created more interesting music to listen to or has the market been flooded with under produced products as there is no effective cost in releasing so everyone can give it a go?
It's a mixture really, I think essentially the market has just been flooded full stop, but good stuff will always rise to the top and the web stores are continuing to find new ways to help people search and find what they want, so we are coping with the meteoric rise in the number of small digital labels. I think at the end of the day serious people always get though the net and people who perhaps are less serious don't, and that’s always been the way the music biz has worked and I can't see that changing anytime soon.
Techno had shifted and mutated over the last few years, utilising new equipment to create innovative and captivating sonics that continue to inspire. Do you think the technology has created an intuitive platform for production or does a studio based around hardware allow for more creative freedom with less time on the computer?
Well in the old skool times ANYTHING electronic sounded pretty cool and most techno records were made partly for that reason alone. Now, it's not like that and there are about a billion ways to make the same sound with software so we have to rely more on concepts, and new exciting concepts will always make a great record regardless of equipment. I don't believe in all this bullshit about old electronic gear or Hardware Vs Software, if it's in you and you can get it out, you should be able to make a great track with a spoon and a tape recorder. If you've really got no idea what you want you can try throwing your money at software companies and downloading as many updates as you can handle but it ain't gonna make your music better, it might give you something to do while you watch porn though.
Where do you see techno going in the future and what producers are really ‘cutting the mustard’ for you at the moment?
Techno is becoming a regular style of music just like Jazz or Rock is in my eyes. There will always be people who love it even though to a certain extent most of the "big" ideas have been done and are now just being replicated in some form. But that doesn’t mean it's dead or not original in some way and producers like A. Paul, Sasha Carassi, Tom Laws, Adam Jay, Len Faki, Joseph Capriati, and of course London's finest Chris Liberator and Sterling Moss are still making great tracks that prove techno has loads of life and ideas left in it.
Your association with the Stay Up Forever Collective is legendary, with tracks such as ‘One Night In Hackney’ crossing boundaries into other scenes and breaking all Acid Techno record sales. Considering Stay Up Forever are approaching the impressive achievement of their 100th vinyl release later this year, how do you think they have contributed to the dance scene over the years?
SUF have kept it real all this time, never sold out never gone mainstream, I think the guys have had trouble embracing the digital age a bit though, we all have, but the 100th release proves something about what I said earlier about concepts. Well done guys!
On Friday 29th April, the day of the royal wedding, you’re playing The Acid Techno Wedding Crashers Ball, whose message is: “F*ck Wills and Kate and get crazy with the Stay Up Forever crew!!” What can we expect to hear you play at the party?
I'm going to play a very current upfront techno set as the last time I played really old skool and I feel it's time to play something modern and fresh. I will also be waving my silly little Union Jack like a nutter.
From: Disco Divaon 22nd Apr 2011 17:19.32 Great interview, one of my fav techno djs & top fella too.
His mixing & tunes have helped me conquer many piles of ironing & house work teehee.. Whack a disc in & off I go ;0)
The Wedding Crashers night looks wicked, gutted I can't make it.
From: Vivaciouson 26th Apr 2011 22:52.11 If I wasn't in Amsterdam I'd be so there! What a line up!
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